I-35W Bridge Collapse

View From Bridge #9 — August 26, 2007

The busy Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River in downtown
Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapsed at the peak of rush hour on Wednesday,
August 1, 2007. These photos are taken from
Northern Pacific Bridge #9,
an old railroad bridge that has been converted into a bicycle path
and pedestrian bridge. They are arranged from south to north, and we
are looking west towards downtown Minneapolis. They were taken the
morning of August 25, 2007, which happened to be one of first sunny days
since the bridge collapse. This bridge had been closed for three
weeks while the victims were being recovered.

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The photo above shows a section of the south end of the bridge that
fell against the embankment of the river gorge. This is the area where
the school bus ended up. Notice that construction workers have erected
a wooden stairway on the far side of the roadway. The gorge is about
100 feet deep at this location.

The photo below shows the southern piers nearest the water. Notice
that one set of 4 lanes is draped over the piers, and the other set of
4 lanes is fully on the near side of the nearest pier. This is the
shift to the east that investigators have been talking about.

These two photos show work near the Lower Saint Anthony Falls Lock.
The barges on the left have vertical poles on their corners. These
are anchors that are driven down into the riverbed to keep the barges
in one place. The barges on the right are mobile. They are being
loaded with steel and concrete debris from the demolition of the bridge
deck that landed in the water. The white truck is the last remaining
vehicle on the bridge from the collapse.

The photo above is a close-up of the demolition of the bridge deck,
and the barges that are supporting that work. The middle barge is
anchored, and that is where the backhoe is sitting. Steel is loaded
on the barge on the left, while concrete and rebar is loaded on the
barge to the right.

The photo below is more of the bridge deck that landed in the water.
The large amount of trusswork that supported the bridge from below
is underwater. The thickness of this trusswork resulted in the bridge
deck remaining just above water, which was a lucky occurrence for the
people that survived this fall.

Here are two more views of the north end of the bridge deck that
landed in the water. Construction crews are building a roadway
that will eventually extend almost entirely across the river. This
will allow construction equipment to be brought in for the demolition
work, and allow conventional dump trucks to be able to haul away the
debris.

The photo above shows the northern pier that is closest to the water.
The roadway section here was one of the last to fall. When it fell,
it tipped back, and pushed the pier out of plumb and towards the river.

The photo below shows the far northern pier. Unlike other deck sections
that were largely intact, the deck section here is more or less draped
over the pier. The section to the north was somewhat cushioned by
falling on 5 parked railroad cars. There were a large number of cars
on that section, all of which survived.

These two photos show the yard where the bridge debris is being
analyzed by the NTSB. This area is located just north of the Washington
Avenue Bridge. Rebar and concrete is being piled on the far side.
The steel is being arranged based on where it was located on the bridge.
This steel and rebar will eventually be recycled.

The photo above is a close-up showing some of the bridge debris being
unloaded. The photo below shows a chunk of steel on a flatbed trailer
with a canvas over the artifact. This part of the bridge is being
shipped to NTSB labs in Washington, DC, for further analysis.

The photo above is a close-up of a barge hauling a load of steel to
be sorted out. Much of the first steel is being removed from the
main navigation channel. The US Navy has divers on-site to do underwater
steel cutting. That explains why so many of the pieces of steel have
such clean cuts. The photo below shows the tiny tugboat that is being
used to move this barge.

The photo above is a close-up of the tiny tugboat that is being used
to move the barges. It is amazing that something so small can push
around such a heavy steel barge.

Below is the river boss. This section of the Mississippi River is
closed to all river traffic. No boat moves without clearance from
the river boss. There is no sense in compounding one disaster by
having yet more accidents. Note the radar antenna on top of the
small boat.